‘Working out’ often refers to an act of physical activity in an effort to promote healthy living. Today, there is an ever-growing emphasis on healthy living, and accordingly, physical activity. Generally, many people regularly ‘work out’ in an effort to control weight gain, build muscle mass, rehabilitate injuries, prevent injuries or even to provide an outlet for stress or social connections. For example, many professionals regularly incorporate a visit to the health club into their hectic work schedule as a way to regulate stress, keep fit while at the same time adding social aspects to their busy days. No matter the reason, working out is at the forefront for many people in today's society to live a healthier life as well as to look and feel better while doing it.
Working out, or physical exercise, most often refers to performance of some activity in order to achieve physical fitness or maintain overall good health. For instance, working out can range from anaerobic exercise to aerobic exercise. With regard to anaerobic activity, working out can include weight training or resistance training to develop or increase muscle strength. Aerobic exercise focuses on developing or increasing cardiovascular endurance and/or weight loss. In addition to anaerobic and aerobic exercise, many individuals engage in a regular routine of flexibility exercises which improve the range of motion of joints and muscles.
In addition to developing and increasing muscle strength/tone, cardiovascular endurance and flexibility, working out is often used to prevent health-related injuries and/or diseases. By way of example, a regular physical exercise routine is an important component in the prevention of some diseases such as cardiovascular disease, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, among others.
Of course, the type of physical activity and corresponding desired results may not be consistent between individuals. For example, one individual may be interested in building muscle mass (e.g., anaerobic) while another may be interested in enhancing cardiovascular endurance or weight loss (e.g., aerobic). However, a common thread of healthy living is regular physical activity whether it be anaerobic, aerobic or flexibility training. Moreover, today, some individuals are constantly ‘battling the bulge’ or the ‘rollercoaster of weight’ by trying to exercise by adhering to rigorous workout routines.
In order to be effective, most workout regimens or routines require individuals to manually record progress by journaling repetition counts, weight amounts, distances, etc. For example, weight training involves many different exercises that focus on different muscles or groups of muscles. Additionally, the amount of weight used and the number of repetitions completed dictate and yield different results. For instance, heavier weight with a lower number of repetitions tends to build muscle mass while lighter weight with an increased number of repetitions shares some of the effects of aerobic training, e.g., toning and weight loss. Thus, it is critical that a particular routine be tailored to achieve desired results. Unfortunately, oftentimes individuals do not possess the necessary knowledge to formulate an effective workout routine to achieve a desired result. Regardless of the routine, manual journaling is inherently vulnerable to mistakes or intentional manipulation.